Delta Single-Handedly Ruined This Guy's Trip To See His Grandmother's Funeral

The trouble began on Wednesday when Matt Kroll's grandmother
passed away.

In line with Jewish custom, her funeral was scheduled for Friday,
within 24 to 48 hours of her death.

The service would be held in Los Angeles, so Kroll, who lives in
New York, needed to book a flight fast.

He figured he'd leave for LAX Thursday evening, then depart for
JFK the next night. The idea, he told Your Money, was not to stay
over Saturday.

But Delta didn't think this was kosher.

Despite being a long-time customer (and Silver Medallion rewards program member) who's racked up
100,000 miles with the carrier, Kroll's anguished call to
customer service got him nowhere. He was repeatedly told that
Delta's bereavement fares require a Saturday night stay. The
airline would be happy to waive the $150 change fee for his
return flight, however.

Kroll was livid. What good was waiving the change fee when he
already paid $150 per year for a Delta American Express card? And how much would
he really save if he was forced to shell out $1,069.60 for a
last-minute, one-day trip—for a family funeral?

For practicing Jews or anyone having to deal with a flight that
doesn't fall on or around a Saturday, Delta's policy was
implausible.

What was happening to Kroll was just another example of the
airlines gouging their most profitable customer: business
travelers. And in telling Kroll he would need to stay over
Saturday in order to receive the fare, the frequent flier was
being lumped into business class.

"They're classifying him, a bereavement passenger, as a business
traveler," Elliott said. "And they were showing a lack of
sensitivity to Jewish custom by charging him more, though this
was not anti-Semitic."

After a BI inquiry, Delta got in touch with Kroll to offer a
flight that was $160 cheaper than the original fare he'd seen on
Delta.com. However, things didn't exactly pan out because
birds hit the plane, the cabin filled with
smoke, and the plane was forced to land
back at JFK 19 minutes later.

When asked about its bereavement policy, a Delta spokesperson
offered this comment: "Delta offers bereavement fare options that
do not require a Saturday night stay and we work with customers
on a case-by-case basis to do our best to meet their
needs."

That sounds fair to us, but if you're ever in a bind like Kroll's
here's what to do:

Take it to the top. BI's Mandi Woodruff has seen this work firsthand when a friend
called Subway's corporate office to complain about a terrible
experience at one of their shops. He received a response in no
time and the issue was resolved.

Blast them on Twitter. Never underestimate the power
of a hashtag. The best way to do it is by tagging your tweet with
the company's name (#Delta) so anyone searching the site will see
your tweet. Per Woodruff: "I tweeted a gripe about Spirit and saw my message
retweeted by customers who had similar experiences, which gave my
message more impact."

Throw away the return ticket. Airlines say this
is illegal, but there's no law saying you can't actually do it,
says Elliott. In this case, Kroll could have gotten the roundtrip
bereavement fare and booked his return flight with another
carrier.

Switch airlines. This goes without saying, but
if you're getting nowhere with your carrier then it's time to
take your business elsewhere.